Partners in Crime
by Qweb
Summary: A stolen car. Stolen diamonds. Are McGarrett and Williams partners in crime? Someone thinks so and he's taken Steve to force Danny to return his stolen merchandise.
1. Chapter 1

_A stolen car. Stolen diamonds. Are McGarrett and Williams partners in crime? Someone thinks so and he's taken Steve to force Danny to return his stolen merchandise._

**Partners in Crime**

**Chapter 1**

"He took my car!" Danny Williams said in exasperation. "He didn't even tell me!"

From Five-0 headquarters, the detective looked down on the parking lot of the Ali'iolani Hale at the empty parking space where his silver Camaro had been.

"What's wrong, Danny?" Kono Kalakaua asked.

"McGarrett, the world-renowned car thief, left me stranded," the detective grumbled.

Kono successfully suppressed a giggle, but Danny didn't miss the way her eyes twinkled.

"You think it's funny? How am I going to get home?" Danny complained.

"It's only lunchtime," Kono answered, not trying to repress her giggle this time.

"Relax, brah," Chin Ho Kelly came up and put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Steve said he needed to make a quick run to the store. He'll be right back."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "He couldn't ask first?"

"You were on the phone with Grace. He'd never interrupt that," Chin said.

Danny grumbled, "He'd better not throw out the 'I Heart New Jersey' pin Grace gave me last week."

"If you're going to keep putting them on the driver's side visor, Steve's going to keep tossing them," Kono pointed out.

"This should not be a problem," Danny insisted. "First, my freakishly tall partner always has to put the sun visor up so he can see out, so he can't even see the pin. Second, it's MY car! I should be able to decorate it as I choose."

"Just tell him it was a gift from Grace," Chin advised, ever the peacemaker. "He won't want to hurt Grace's feelings."

"Give the boss a call and bawl him out," Kono suggested. That was always entertaining.

Danny pressed a contact number on his phone. "Hey, McGarrett, bring back my car. What was the big rush, anyway? Big sale on C4 at the ammo store?"

* * *

Benjamin "Bingo" Benga looked at the man lying unconscious at his feet — the wrong man! It was the right car, the one that belonged to the thieving haole detective, but this was the Navy guy, the Five-0 bossman.

Bingo tossed away the broken tree branch in disgust. He couldn't believe his luck when he saw the Camaro leave Five-0. He followed it, lost it momentarily, but then spotted it again parked in the shade at the edge of the parking lot. He'd been too late to see the driver, but he figured the detective had gone into the small bakery.

Bingo figured his luck was truly in when some tourist parked a huge motorhome between the Camaro and the store. It was like a sign from above.

Bingo found a sturdy tree branch and waited until he heard footsteps crunching on the gravel. As his quarry came around the end of the motorhome, Bingo struck, and then realized the luck gods were laughing at him, because it was McGarrett, not Williams.

On the off chance that the partners shared their ill-gotten gains, Bingo searched the commander, but all he found was a box of squashed sandwiches and pastries, a badge, a gun and handcuffs — which he quickly appropriated — and a cellphone.

The attacker cursed and shoved McGarrett into the back seat of the Camaro. His victim stirred. Bingo grabbed him by the hair and banged his head into the car's center console. The attacker didn't have a good angle, so it wasn't a heavy blow, but it served to quiet his captive momentarily — long enough for Bingo to pull the seat forward, pull down the sun visor, grimace at the stupid Jersey button and drive away sedately.

It wasn't far to Bingo's secondary hideout, a Hummer dealership abandoned when the division was discontinued and the auto industry as a whole fell on hard times. The owner had been forced to go to work for a Toyota dealership and the enormous, practically new building lay empty. The glass-walled showroom was too exposed, but the service bays around back were cool, quiet and deserted.

It only took a few minutes to pull the Camaro into one of the service bays. By then, Steve was conscious, but disoriented from his head injuries. Bingo was able to guide him into the front seat and fasten Steve to the steering wheel with the cop's own handcuffs. Then Bingo tried to think what to do next.

He was a middleman, a courier not a killer, but his life wasn't worth a macadamia nut if he didn't deliver the diamonds this afternoon. He was desperate and desperation made him dangerous. Maybe there was a way he could use McGarrett as leverage to get the diamonds back.

Then McGarrett's phone rang and Bingo picked it up. The caller's name was ID'd as "Williams."

Bingo made a mental apology to the luck gods and answered the call.

"You want your car. I'll trade you the car and McGarrett for my diamonds, you thief!"

* * *

**To be continued**


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. You get a little more background with this chapter._

**Chapter 2**

The gravelly voice sounded nothing like Steve. Danny blinked, unable to process the abrupt shift in perspective for a moment.

"Who is this?" he demanded harshly.

"The guy whose house you searched this morning. The guy whose diamonds you stole," Bingo said.

"What diamonds? What are you talking about?" Danny demanded. He gestured wildly at Chin and mouthed to trace the call.

Chin and Kono hurried to the smart-table. Chin initiated the trace.

Kono cloned the phone's signal so she could record the conversation. With the table's computing power, it only took a second, so they all heard: "Don't lie to me, thief. I saw you through the curtains. I couldn't see real well, but I could see enough. You were the one who searched the medicine cabinet. I saw you pour the diamonds out of the bottle. I heard you later tell the others you didn't find anything. You didn't know I was so close," Bingo taunted. "You don't even know what I look like."

That was true.

"I want my diamonds back or your friend is dead," Bingo growled.

The sudden danger was shocking, but Danny instantly knew what he had to do.

"OK, OK, I'll give them back," he said. "Stealing is one thing, but I'm not up for murder."

"Twenty minutes, in the service bay at the Hummer dealership on Kapiolani."

"No. Can't do it," Danny said promptly.

"I'll kill him," Bingo threatened.

"I need more time," Danny interrupted. "Jesus, you think I'm sitting here in a cop shop with stolen diamonds in my pocket! Give me some credit. I put them in my safe deposit box. I've got to go get them first and I've got to borrow a car since McGarrett took mine!"

Bingo hesitated, but it all sounded reasonable. "Alright, one hour."

"I'll be there," Danny promised and hung up.

"Did you get a trace?" Danny demanded.

"Right where he said he was," Chin confirmed. "This guy's not a very experienced criminal."

"No, he thinks I'm a criminal, too," Danny corrected. "He didn't think I'd ask for a trace because that would expose my stealing."

"He doesn't know that the diamonds are how we got into this in the first place," Kono commented.

* * *

Bingo had rented a condo by email and transferred the money electronically. He'd never met the owner and didn't intend to. He reckoned without Mrs. Hamo.

She was a snoop. She always promised privacy and always checked on her places anyway. She used her master key to enter and make sure the man wasn't damaging her property. He wasn't. In fact, it hardly looked like he'd moved in. There was a small valise by the bed, a small shaving kit in the bathroom and two bottles of pills in the medicine cabinet. Mrs. Hamo opened them and shook the pills out, because she was that kind of snoop — almost professional. One of the bottles contained four small, cloudy white rocks beneath a layer of aspirin. That was a little strange, but who knew what tourists would collect? But when she found a gun under the pillow, she had second thoughts about the rocks. She pressed one against a corner of the bathroom mirror and regarded the scratch it left.

She took the bottle and the gun and went to the police. Because she was a friend of Kamekona's aunt, and because she was the kind of person who went straight to the top, she went directly to Five-0 and demanded to see McGarrett, laying her story before him.

It dovetailed with a vague rumor about stolen uncut diamonds being used for payoffs. The diamonds might be uncut, but the original owner had engraved tiny serial numbers on them. A simple look through a microscope confirmed that these were from the stolen batch.

Five-0 went back to the condo and checked it out, but found no sign of the courier. The lab was going through his gear, looking for clues to his plan or his true identity, while Chin and Kono had been going through surveillance video trying to ID the man himself.

* * *

"It's frustrating to know he was watching us all the time," Kono said.

"We had no idea what he looked like," Chin reminded her. "The name he used to rent the condo is a fake and we haven't connected it to a known alias."

"None of that matters now," Danny pointed out grimly. "I'll find out what he looks like when I meet him."

"You're not going alone," Chin said firmly.

"I'm going in alone," Danny responded. "But I expect you guys to back me up."

"Always, brah," Kono replied.

Chin called Duke Lukela at HPD, telling him they needed to cordon off the Hummer dealership.

"Quietly, Duke. Steve's life is at stake," Chin said.

At the same time, Danny was calling Lt. Akutagawa, head of the SWAT unit. "Round up the cavalry, Aku. Steve's in trouble. Yes, again," Danny said. "I need a couple of your best men. And a spare vest."

"A spare vest?" Kono asked, after Danny hung up.

"Yes, dammit. Mine's in the Camaro!"

* * *

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Steve McGarrett woke and shook his head to clear his foggy thoughts. The spike of pain that stabbed through his head told him shaking his head was a bad idea — but it did clear his thoughts.

He tried to clutch his head to still the agony, but his hands were jerked to a stop. He looked down to see the handcuffs. For a moment he had a flashback to his arrest for Jameson's murder, but that hadn't involved a steering wheel. And it was a familiar steering wheel. And a familiar sun visor with an I Heart New Jersey button mocking him inches from his nose.

He hadn't seen that before, because the sun visor hadn't been down before. Aha! That meant he hadn't driven the Camaro here. Wherever here was. His slowly recuperating mind was quite pleased with his deduction.

He wrenched on the cuffs again, which just made his wrists hurt. Had Danny been mad enough to handcuff him in the Camaro? He didn't think so.

Steve twisted to look around, then winced and not because of his headache. He'd gotten blood on the headrest. Now Danny would be pissed.

As Steve grew used to the headache, his befuddlement began to subside, but his confusion didn't lessen. Where the hell was he? And why?

He peered around, beginning to assess his predicament with his usual keen intelligence. Some sort of service garage, he decided. 'Genius, Holmes!' He heard Danny's sarcastic voice in his head.

A man came to the open driver's window. He was carrying Steve's own gun and wearing a ski mask. 'Why do they even sell those in Hawaii?' Danny's voice again. 'If he's hiding his face, then he doesn't intend to kill me,' Steve thought. Great, now he was arguing with Danny's voice in his mind. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he thought.

The masked man began to speak and Steve forcibly focused his attention.

"You're lucky. Your friend Williams is going to give up the diamonds he stole to get you back. Or maybe he just wants his car back."

Diamonds Danny stole? The fog in Steve's mind blew away as if a hurricane had come through.

"You sit tight and you'll be free soon," Benga told his prisoner. "I don't want to kill you, but I will."

He sounded determined and Steve believed him.

"You understand?"

"Yes," Steve answered.

The short, stocky man walked toward the service bay entrance, leaving Steve alone.

The driver's seat was too far forward for the tall man's comfort. His knees banged on the steering wheel. Steve shifted to ease his discomfort and bumped his forehead on the sun visor. His hands were cuffed together with one arm on each side of the steering wheel. He pushed his arms forward, so he could reach the visor to shove it out of his face. It was a little awkward with his hands cuffed. He had to be careful not to stick himself on Danny's stupid pin.

* * *

Duke Lukela handled the cordon personally. Quietly, with no sirens and no fuss, HPD blocked off access to the Hummer dealership and shooed people away from the block.

Five-0 set up a command post at the tailgate of Chin's Traverse. The SWAT van pulled up next to it. Aku came himself, of course, with two reliable men and a spare vest for Danny.

"I think we've got him, Danny," Kono reported. While they had been waiting, she had used her laptop to continue to scan the surveillance video from the condo complex. Knowing the suspect had been watching the side window, made identifying him easier. "He's a local. Benjamin Benga. They call him Bingo. Good news is, he's only been arrested for nonviolent offenses like smuggling and fencing stolen goods."

"And the bad news?" Danny asked.

"He's been linked to Wilson Haply."

That was a name Danny knew. Suspected drug dealer, suspected murderer, nothing ever proven. Haply was up for indictment for the murder of an undercover narcotics officer, but the evidence was so thin he was still out on bail awaiting arraignment. Danny had seen him swaggering around the courthouse as if he owned the place.

"He's just the sort of person who might need a handful of diamonds for, I don't know, bribes, maybe. Payoffs," Danny said.

"Right," Chin said. "And he's just the sort of person who wouldn't hesitate to kill a middleman who crossed him. He's scary enough to drive a man to murder."

Danny thought of Grace Tilwell and Meka Hanamoa. Damned if he was going to bury another partner.

He checked the clip in his SIG, then slammed it home. His blue eyes were glacier cold.

"OK, Chin, I'm going in the front. You take the boys around back and wait for the signal. Kono ..."

She nodded without needing to be told. She pulled the sniper rifle from its case and slung it over her shoulder. "The roof of the showroom has the best angle into the garage. It's not great, but it's the best choice. And I can get up there from inside."

Danny nodded agreement. "Let's do this."

"Wait," one of the SWAT officers protested. "You're the lieutenant," he pointed at Chin. "Why are you taking his orders?" "Because he's only a haole" echoed in the van, even though no one actually said it.

Danny rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this," he growled.

He stalked toward the door and the officer got out of his way quickly. Aku followed Danny to apologize, giving his man a quelling look as he passed.

"You heard the detective," Chin growled just like Danny. When no one moved, Chin rolled his eyes (maybe he'd been hanging around Danny too much). "When McGarrett brought me into Five-0, I was nobody, a disgraced former cop with no title or rank. They called me 'inspector' because it was better than 'Hey, you'. Maybe you remember snubbing me a few times."

The officer looked embarrassed.

"Detective Williams was second in command of Five-0 then and he and I split the duties now. He didn't care that I was an 'inspector' then. I don't care that he's a 'sergeant' now," Chin said harshly. "If you've got a problem with his rank, his place of birth or his attitude, get over it. That's his partner in danger and he has a better read on the situation. And if you really need a lieutenant's order to get your ass in gear, then I say 'what he said'," Chin added sarcastically. "Now, go!"

The officers scattered to their places.

"In a way, this makes me feel better," Kono commented.

Chin gave his cousin a look.

"If HPD still underestimates Danny Williams, then Benga might do the same."

**To be continued**

* * *

_A/N: So, this is where the story started with Danny thinking about dead partners and Chin defending him. I thought it went with the other story I'm working on, but the scene insisted it didn't, so I had to build a whole story around it. Meanwhile, the original story is causing me problems. Maybe it wants this scene back. Arrrgh!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Danny drove Kono's red Cruze up to the entrance of the service bay. He parked to one side.

"Everybody ready?" he asked, knowing his microphone would pick up his words.

"We're ready here," Chin confirmed.

"In position," came Kono's voice. "I can see half of the service bay from here. No sign of the suspect, Steve or the Camaro. You'll have to bring him closer to the entrance for me to have a shot."

"Understood. Going in," Danny said and entered the service bay.

When Bingo saw him wearing his borrowed bulletproof vest and carrying his SIG, the courier raised the weapon he'd taken from Steve. Danny recognized it and growled under his breath.

"I didn't tell you to come armed!" Bingo shouted.

"You didn't tell me not to," Danny retorted, swallowing the "amateur" that wanted to join his sentence. "Relax, I've got your diamonds. This is just protection against a double-cross." He held up the pill bottle and rattled it. "Now, where's my partner?"

Bingo tipped his head toward a nearby service bay. Beyond the courier, Danny could see the Camaro and his partner, who looked alive and alert despite the blood smeared on the left side of his face. Their eyes met. When Steve turned his hands so Danny could see the handcuffs, the detective even saw the precious I Heart NJ button his daughter had given him. Everything looked on the up-and-up.

Danny gave his partner a look Steve knew well. The one that said, shut up, I'm talking!

"Benga…" The man started to be addressed by name. "You may be a good smuggler, but you're an amateur at kidnapping."

"How'd you know my name?" Benga said in a shaky voice.

"Like I said, amateur. But you make an even worse detective," Danny said. "Let me offer you the benefit of my 15 years experience. One, never assume someone is a thief based on eyewitness testimony — even your own. Eyewitnesses are prone to see what they expect. You, being a thief, expected to see a thief. Which I'm not. And two, never handcuff a suspect in front of his body."

A tattooed arm with a handcuff dangling from the wrist caught Bingo across the neck, while Steve's other hand clamped down on his gun hand, forcing it out of line with Danny. The detective came forward to handcuff the prisoner — behind his back — and then tossed his partner the handcuff keys. In return, Steve tossed the I Heart NJ pin to Danny. The tip of the pin was slightly scratched from being used to pick the lock on the handcuffs.

"You can keep this one," Steve said. "I like it."

While Danny's talk distracted Benga, Steve had opened the cuffs and slid out the open driver's window, so the door wouldn't make any noise. After that, it was easy for a Navy SEAL to creep up on a petty crook mesmerized by Danny's rant.

Danny tapped his microphone. "It's all over guys. Come on in."

Bingo slumped in Danny's grip. "You should have killed me. I'm as good as dead anyway."

"We know about Haply, too," Danny said, surprising Benga again. "The best way to make sure he doesn't get you is to get him first."

"You'd better listen to my partner," Steve said. "He's already mad at you. You got blood on his upholstery."

* * *

Bingo decided to rely on Five-0's promises. After all, they knew everything! He told them all he knew about Haply, the diamonds that were meant to be a payoff to the hit man who had killed the undercover narc and the location of the transfer.

"The courthouse!" Kono exclaimed.

Bingo shrugged. "Why not? It's safe — no guns allowed. No one expects illegal activities when there are so many cops around. And Haply has to be there for the arraignment, so … why not?"

**To be continued**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Neatly dressed in a business suit, Bingo sat stoically on the designated bench at the designated time, paying no attention to the Five-0 guys down the hall. Steve, with a small bandage at his temple, and Danny were engaged in one of their typical arguments, so familiar to regulars in the courthouse.

Haply and his lawyer sat on the bench beside Bingo. The lawyer mopped his forehead, "I've got such a headache," he complained.

"Want some aspirin?" Bingo asked. He pulled out the pill bottle and offered it.

The lawyer took it and poured the pills into his hand. He picked out a couple of aspirin while Haply counted the diamonds. Haply nodded, the lawyer swallowed the aspirin and poured the rest of the pills and the rocks back into the bottle. Seeing no one watching him, he gave the bottle to Haply who set it on the bench beside him.

With a nod of farewell, Bingo got up and walked away, past the still arguing Five-0 duo and around the corner where Chin was waiting to handcuff him.

A moment later, another man sat next to Haply. He picked up the pill bottle, opened it and swallowed a couple of aspirin while he studied the diamonds. He nodded and put the bottle in his pocket.

"Nice doing business with you," he said gruffly.

He started to stand, but was abruptly spun around and pressed against the wall. Steve handcuffed him and said, "Fernando Castro, you're under arrest for the murder of HPD narcotics officer Marcel Prescott."

Haply and his lawyer made to move away from the scuffle, but found Danny blocking their way. "Not so fast, gents."

"Detective, this is nothing to do with us," the lawyer said hastily.

Danny rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as Kono came up behind him with a couple of burly HPD officers in case the duo got feisty. Not that Danny couldn't take both the weedy lawyer and the overweight crime boss with one hand tied behind his back, but Five-0 had promised to limit unseemly activity in the halls of the courthouse.

"Kono, don't forget your camera," Danny reminded her.

"Right." She went to a nearby potted plant and retrieved the Wi-Fi camera. She had been watching the feed from a nearby anteroom and had identified the hit man as soon as he appeared, giving the info to Steve via his earwig.

"We saw everything," she told Haply cheerfully, as Chin brought Bingo to join the party. "We recorded everything."

"Guess you're going to be late for your arraignment," Danny said, as he handcuffed Haply.

The crime boss glared at Bingo who met his eyes unmoved. "Benga, you're a dead man," Haply vowed.

Steve snorted. "Haply, you just stiffed a hit man and lured him into a trap. I think you'd better watch your own back."

The glower Castro gave Haply proved McGarrett's point.

Danny was handcuffing the lawyer who cleared his throat. "I believe I would like to turn state's evidence," he offered.

"You do that," Danny agreed. "In the meantime, you might want to get yourself a lawyer. And you," he turned to Haply. "You need to get another lawyer."

* * *

Danny watched in satisfaction as Chin, Kono and several HPD officers took their four prisoners away.

"A good day's work," he said. "And all because Kamekona's aunt's snoopy friend has a crush on you."

Steve chuckled. "All because you stole those diamonds," he joked.

"Well, you wouldn't have gotten into trouble if you hadn't stolen my car," Danny retorted. "Where did you go, anyway?"

"I went to get sandwiches for lunch, because you said you hadn't had any breakfast."

"I still haven't had breakfast — or lunch," Danny realized. Now that the stressful afternoon was over, his stomach was making its emptiness known.

"Side Street?"

"Sounds good." The partners started for the exit.

"You're paying to get the upholstery cleaned in the Camaro," Danny said in tones brooking no argument, but Steve argued anyway.

"It's your car."

"It's your blood!"

**The End**

_A/N: I know. It was just a little lightweight story, mostly an excuse for various rants. I am working on something longer (much much longer!), but it's going to take some time so be patient. _


End file.
